Cobbler: a cup of fruit, dough and sugar at 540 to 590 calories

The firmest number behind a cobbler is about sugar in general. A meta-analysis of 30 randomized trials in adults eating freely for at least two weeks found that cutting sugars lowered body weight by 1.8 lb (95% CI 0.86 to 2.7; metric: 0.80 kg, 0.39 to 1.21) and adding sugars raised it by 1.7 lb (0.66 to 2.6; metric: 0.75 kg, 0.30 to 1.19). The change ran through calories. Swapping sugars for other carbohydrates at equal calories showed no change (0.09 lb (-0.09 to 0.29; metric: 0.04 kg, -0.04 to 0.13)). We found no trial that tested cobbler itself. What we can measure is how much a cobbler brings. USDA puts one cup, about 250 g, at 540 to 590 calories depending on the fruit, from a single survey recipe per fruit, and home recipes vary in dough and sugar. That cup carries 41 to 54 g of total sugars, about 22 g of fat with 7 g saturated, and about 450 mg of sodium. Fat and sodium are almost identical in apple, peach, cherry and berry cobbler, because the dough sets them.

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Per 100 g, USDA lists fruit cobblers at 16.6 to 21.7 g total sugars, about 8.7 g fat with 2.8 g saturated, about 180 mg sodium and 1.6 to 4 g fiber, with berry cobbler highest in fiber. — USDA survey foods Cobbler, apple, berry, cherry and peach (FNDDS) Evidence E source
  Total sugars apple 16.87, peach 16.57, berry 17.63, cherry 21.68 g; fat 8.66 to 8.86 g; saturated fat 2.785 to 2.796 g; sodium 179 to 182 mg; fiber apple 1.6, peach 1.7, cherry 1.8, berry 4.0 g per 3.5 oz (100 g); per cup (250 g) sugars 41.4 to 54.2 g, fat about 22 g, saturated fat 7 g, sodium about 450 mg

What a real portion looks like

• One cup of fruit cobbler weighs about 8.8 oz (250 g) in the USDA survey database and carries 540 to 590 calories depending on the fruit, and the default 4.4 oz (125 g) serving is about 270 to 300 calories. — USDA survey foods Cobbler, apple, berry, cherry and peach (FNDDS food codes 53410100, 53410300, 53410500, 53410800) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: apple 217, peach 217, berry 231, cherry 237 calories; 1 cup 250 g = 542.5 to 592.5 calories; quantity not specified 125 g = 271.2 calories (apple); 1 cubic inch 15 g

What your body absorbs

• When men ate a sugar pie test meal, blood glucose rose and insulin climbed significantly within 30 minutes, while glucagon fell. — adult men fed test meals: sugar pie, whipped cream, beef steak or fish fillet Evidence B source
  Significant insulin rise at 30 min with sugar pie; glucagon decreased significantly at 30 min

What cooking and storage change

• Baking fresh fruit keeps its minerals but costs part of the heat-sensitive vitamins: the USDA retention table keeps 80% of vitamin C and 60% of folate in baked fruit. — USDA retention factors for the group Fruits and Fruit Juices, method fresh non-citrus fruit baked Evidence E source
  Retained after baking: folate 60%, vitamin C 80%, thiamin 80%, potassium 90%, calcium 95%, iron, magnesium, zinc 100%
• Laboratory work identified a peach allergen, Peamaclein, that is heat-stable and resists digestion, so baking a peach filling is not expected to remove it. — peach-allergic patients with severe reactions and peach peel extracts Evidence D source
  Heat-stable, digestion-resistant allergenic protein

What it does to your health

• Across randomized trials in adults eating freely, cutting dietary sugars lowered body weight by 1.8 lb (0.80 kg) and adding sugars raised it by 1.7 lb (0.75 kg), while swapping sugars for other carbohydrates at equal calories changed nothing. — adults in randomized trials with ad libitum diets, minimum duration two weeks (n = 30 trials) Evidence A source
  Reduced sugars -1.8 lb (95% CI 0.86 to 2.7; metric: -0.80 kg, 0.39 to 1.21); increased sugars +1.7 lb (0.66 to 2.6; metric: 0.75 kg, 0.30 to 1.19); isoenergetic exchange 0.09 lb (-0.09 to 0.29; metric: 0.04 kg, -0.04 to 0.13)
• In a Cochrane review of 12 long-term trials with 53,758 adults, eating less saturated fat cut combined cardiovascular events by 17% but did not change overall or cardiovascular death. — adults with or without cardiovascular disease in randomized trials lasting at least 24 months (n = 53,758) Evidence A source
  Cardiovascular events RR 0.83 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.98); all-cause mortality RR 0.96 (0.90 to 1.03); NNTB 56 over about four years in primary prevention

Who this works differently for

• Among 57 Spanish children allergic to peach, 93% passed an oral challenge with peeled peach pulp, because the main allergen Pru p 3 sits mostly in the peel. — 57 Spanish children with allergic reactions to peach, median age 7.4 years (n = 57) Evidence C source
  Oral food challenge with peach pulp negative in 52 (93%); Pru p 3 IgE in 96%

What is still unknown

• A scoping review for the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 found no systematic reviews linking sugary foods other than chocolate, such as sweet bakery products, to health outcomes. — 12 systematic reviews published 2011 to 2021 plus the EFSA 2022 opinion on dietary sugars (n = 12 reviews) Evidence C source
  No systematic reviews on sugary foods other than chocolate

The bottom line

The saturated fat is the other number worth knowing. In a Cochrane review of 12 trials lasting at least two years with 53,758 adults, eating less saturated fat cut combined cardiovascular events by 17% (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.98), and overall death did not change (RR 0.96, 0.90 to 1.03). That review is about the whole diet, and the 7 g in a cup of cobbler comes from the dough. The default USDA serving is half a cup, 125 g, which for apple cobbler is about 271 calories. Berry cobbler has the most fiber at 4 g per 3.5 oz (100 g), against 1.6 to 1.8 g for apple, peach and cherry. USDA gives no split between the sugar in the fruit and the sugar added by the cook, and no second food table gives an independent figure. Baking the fruit costs part of its vitamins. The USDA retention table for baked fresh fruit keeps 80% of vitamin C and 60% of folate, 90% of potassium and all of the iron, magnesium and zinc. That factor covers the whole fruit group baked on its own, and the table dates from 1975, so fruit under a dough lid has not been measured. On the blood sugar side, the closest human test is an old 1996 study in adult men given a sugar pie meal: insulin rose significantly within 30 minutes as glucose climbed, and glucagon fell. The abstract gives no numbers, the sample was small, and a sugar pie is a different dessert. We have no card on cobbler and children, pregnancy or medicines. The caution that the cards do support is peach allergy. Laboratory work found that one peach allergen, Peamaclein, is heat-stable and resists digestion, so baking is not expected to remove it, although nobody measured reactions to baked peach. Among 57 Spanish children allergic to peach, 93% passed an oral challenge with peeled raw pulp, because the main allergen sits mostly in the peel. That was one country and raw fruit, so if your child reacts to peach, a peach cobbler is a question for their allergist. A scoping review for the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 found no systematic reviews at all linking sweet bakery products to health outcomes. Treat cobbler as a dessert and size the portion to that.

Sources

1. cbl-r8-02 · USDA FNDDS survey food, dataset
   Total Sugars per 100 g: Cobbler, apple 16.87 g; Cobbler, berry 17.63 g; Cobbler, cherry 21.68 g; Cobbler, peach 16.57 g. Total lipid (fat): apple 8.66 g, berry 8.86 g, peach 8.66 g. Fatty acids, total saturated: apple 2.785 g, berry 2.789 g, peach 2.788 g. Sodium: apple 180 mg, berry 179 mg, peach 182 mg. Fiber, total dietary: apple 1.6 g, berry 4 g, peach 1.7 g
   USDA FoodData Central survey (FNDDS), release 2024-10-31, food codes 53410100, 53410300, 53410500, 53410800 · checked 2026-09-30
2. cbl-r8-01 · USDA FNDDS survey food, dataset
   Cobbler, apple (fdc_id 2708019): Energy 217 kcal per 100 g; 1 cup 250 g = 542.5 kcal; Quantity not specified 125 g = 271.2 kcal; 1 cubic inch 15 g = 32.5 kcal. Cobbler, berry (2708020): 231 kcal per 100 g, 1 cup 577.5 kcal. Cobbler, cherry (2708021): 237 kcal per 100 g, 1 cup 592.5 kcal. Cobbler, peach (2708022): 217 kcal per 100 g, 1 cup 542.5 kcal
   USDA FoodData Central survey (FNDDS), release 2024-10-31, food codes 53410100, 53410300, 53410500, 53410800, fdc_id 2708019-2708022 · checked 2026-09-30
3. cbl-r8-06 · randomized feeding trial
   Thirty min later due to plasma glucose elevation, a significant increase in insulin was observed with the sugar pie...30 min after feeding the plasma level of this hormone increased with both beef and fish feeding and decreased significantly with the sugar pie meal.
   Horm Metab Res, 1996 · checked 2026-09-30
4. cbl-r8-03 · USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, dataset
   USDA-RETN-R6:151 FRUITS,FRESH(NOT CITRUS),BAKED, group Fruits and Fruit Juices: folate_total_ug 60% retained, vitamin_c_mg 80%, thiamin_mg 80%, potassium_mg 90%, copper_mg 90%, niacin_mg 90%, calcium_mg 95%, iron_mg 100%, magnesium_mg 100%, zinc_mg 100%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6, 2007, Retn_Code 151 · checked 2026-09-30
5. cbl-r8-07 · allergen characterization study
   It is a small, basic, cysteine-rich, heat-stable, digestion-resistant protein, homologous to a potato antimicrobial peptide.
   Clin Exp Allergy, 2013 · checked 2026-09-30
6. cbl-r8-04 · meta-analysis of RCTs
   In trials of adults with ad libitum diets (that is, with no strict control of food intake), reduced intake of dietary sugars was associated with a decrease in body weight (0.80 kg, 95% confidence interval 0.39 to 1.21; P<0.001); increased sugars intake was associated with a comparable weight increase (0.75 kg, 0.30 to 1.19; P=0.001). Isoenergetic exchange of dietary sugars with other carbohydrates showed no change in body weight (0.04 kg, -0.04 to 0.13).
   BMJ, 2012 · checked 2026-09-30
7. cbl-r8-05 · Cochrane meta-analysis of RCTs
   The included long-term trials suggested that reducing dietary saturated fat reduced the risk of combined cardiovascular events by 17% (risk ratio (RR) 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70 to 0.98, 12 trials, 53,758 participants of whom 8% had a cardiovascular event, I² = 67%, GRADE moderate-quality evidence).
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2020 · checked 2026-09-30
8. cbl-r8-08 · cross-sectional study
   Oral food challenge was negative in 52 (93%) children. CONCLUSIONS: More than 90% of the study population tolerated peeled peach. Pru p 3 was the major allergen.
   Pediatr Allergy Immunol, 2013 · checked 2026-09-30
9. cbl-r8-09 · scoping review
   The search did not identify systematic reviews investigating the associations between other sugary food consumption and health outcomes.
   Food Nutr Res, 2024 · checked 2026-09-30